Shades of Frankenweenie

Well...firstly, the reason for my prolonged absence from the daily blip.

Unfortunately, our beautiful little rescue pug was hit by a car and killed a couple of weeks back - and ever since, all thoughts of blipping were gone from my head.
It has been a truly harrowing experience and we were both pretty broken in the time immediately after, but we are finally trying get our heads together, and have started the process with a long weekend trip to Seoul.

We are trying to get something positive from the horror of what, to us, is the loss of a family member, by raising money for an animal shelter here in Korea. The shelter is run entirely by two wonderful people, a host of volunteers, and kind donations from the public.
I have set up my own donation page here, and it would be truly amazing for the shelter as well as yourself (there's no gift like the gift of giving) if you could spare a couple of minutes from your day to donate whatever you can (every little helps).
The page also has more information about our little puggle, plus info on the fantastic BAPS animal shelter - as well a few pictures of The Pug and a ton of pictures of all the beautiful, innocent dogs who've been helped by BAPS.


And so onto this weekend, which has been about as theraputic as they come (and explains today's oddball picture)

We've...

Found a cute little hostel in our favorite part of the city, Hongdae
Explored student art markets
Found a vegan bakery
Fallen in love with the wonderfully relaxing Sukkara Cafe
Experienced a cat cafe
...and a this bonkers dog cafe (never again to be honest)
Enjoyed some fun live music, including a Korean/Brazilian drum band
Eaten delicious mexican food and drank strawberry margaritas
Shopped for LPs in one of Korea's very, very few record stores
And finally, and for me most importantly, visited the amazing Tim Burton exhibition at Seoul Museum of Art - which displayed the big blue Burton creation above in the entrance hall.
I've been very excited about this exhibition and not only did it not disappoint, but it surpassed all my expectations.

The work on show was made up of 85% of Burton's private collection, the only other parts being mostly offers from movie studios such as Edward Scissorhand's costume, Catwoman's catsuit, and other props and movie related paraphernalia.
Most of this was housed in the final room of the collection and was by far the most popular. For me though, his earlier and more personal stuff was by far the most interesting.
A vast range of doodles, drawings and paintings, scribblings, notes and sculpures offered a mesmerizing insight into Burton's creative processes, as well as his development as an artist.
Items of interest included early storyboards for his very first projects, random character creations scrawled onto napkins, a great little comic book he submitted to disney as a teenager (for whom he later worked) along with a covering letter asking for feedback, as well as a very optimistic request for its possible publication.
There were artworks from his university years that would later become some of his most iconic creations, and enough work to give a real insight into his troubled childhood, feelings of isolation in suburbia, and consequent successes.
It really was a joy, and I highly recommend those of you in Korea to give it a whirl before it wraps up in a couple of weeks time.


I now sit, tired and relaxed, in a beautifully soothing cafe, drinking an amazing 'shandy gaff' (home-made organic ginger ale & beer) and feeling a contented calmness that I feared had left me forever after Puggle's untimely death.
Please remember to donate if at all possible. Giving is cool, and you are literally helping save innocent lives with your kindness and generosity.

The wife's batteries have long since run out, and she's succumbed to Mr Sandman back at the hostel. So I'll order another drink, relax, and enjoy the rest of my time in Korea's oft-underrated capital.